Safe driving habits for NSW learners

Set up before you drive

A few seconds of adjustment gives you full control and a clear view.

• Set the seat so you reach the pedals with your knees a little bent and the wheel without stretching.
• Adjust the head restraint and mirrors as well, especially in a car someone else drove last.
• Angle each side mirror so it shows mainly the road behind, with only a thin edge of your own car in view.
• A mirror filled with your own door hides the lane beside you, so angle it out.

Pulling out from the kerb

Plenty can change between walking up to the car and moving off.

• Check your mirrors first, then signal.
• Mirrors leave a blind spot beside and behind the car that they cannot show.
• A head check over your shoulder is the final thing you do before you pull out.
• That last look is what saves a cyclist, car or person you had not noticed.

Scanning and hidden hazards

Many crashes come from seeing something too late, so keep your eyes busy.

• Scan far ahead, to both sides and through every mirror, every few seconds.
• Look left and right before entering any intersection, even on green.
• Where a building, hedge or row of parked cars hides a side street, slow down and be ready to give way.
• Beside parked cars, watch for doors opening, people stepping out and right indicators flashing.
• Near a crest on a narrow road, keep left and slow down, because oncoming traffic can be hidden over the top.
• Stay out of other drivers' blind spots and out of tight packs, so you always have room to escape.

Speed, space and stopping distance

The faster you go, the more road slips by before you can even react.

• Total stopping distance adds the ground covered while you react to the ground covered while you brake.
• At 60 km/h you travel about 17 metres a second, before braking begins.
• A slow or distracted response stretches the reaction distance.
• Crash energy rises much faster than speed, so a few km/h over the limit makes a crash more likely and far more severe.
• Rear-end crashes mostly come from following too closely, and cars that run off a bend are usually going too fast for it.

When something goes wrong

In an emergency, smooth control beats sudden moves.

• Wheels off the edge onto gravel: ease off the accelerator, let the car slow, then steer back on gently.
• Oncoming car in your lane: brake, move left, and use your horn and headlights. Swerving right is risky, as the other driver may correct back to their own side.
• Reverse only as far as you need and only when it is safe. Missed a shop on a busy road? Go round the block instead.
• If a pedestrian steps out against the lights, you must still do everything you can to avoid them.

Hard braking or a sharp steer on a loose gravel edge can spin the car or roll it.

Attitude and building experience

Safe driving is as much a mindset as a skill.

• You are responsible for your own safety and for everyone else around you.
• Most crashes come from driver choices, not bad luck.
• Cut off or tailgated? Stay calm: do not react, gesture or chase, and let the other driver pass when safe.
• Begin on quiet roads by day, then build up to busy traffic, motorways, rain and night.
• Make your first night drives on streets you know well, so the dark is the only new thing to handle.